lynnwood: How long do I have to wait to buy after a BK?
- 06/20/12 11:47 AM
I get asked this question at least once a week. I also get asked what if I short sale my home or let it go to foreclosure, then how long do I have to wait? The answer is simple yet complex. First off it depends on the type of bankruptcy, 7 or 13. It also depends on if there were any extenuating circumstances. Conventional, chapter 7 you must wait at least 4 years and as much as 7. If there was a deed in lieu or a forclosure it will most likely be 7 years from transfer date. FHA, chapter 7 (0 comments)

lynnwood: The Myth of The Freddie Mac Average Mortgage Rate
- 11/16/11 03:08 PM
Each week Freddie Mac—one of the giant Government Sponsored Mortgage Enterprises—releases their “Primary Mortgage Market Survey” or “PMMS”. For the week ending November 10, 2011 the average 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage was reported at 3.990%. Almost invariably the mainstream media will spin this report as “Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Lows” or “30-Year Mortgage Rates Drop Below 4%!” You may be surprised to hear that this sort of media coverage causes our phones to ring off the hook. A typical conversation starts like this: “I just heard that mortgage rates dropped below 4%. Why can’t you get me a lower rate?”(0 comments)

lynnwood: USDA is adding Monthly MI
- 09/01/11 04:48 PM
In a surprising announcement, the USDA Guaranteed Rural Development Home Loan Program announced starting October 1st, 2011, they will begin collecting (charging) monthly mortgage insurance of .3%, but their up front mortgage insurance will be reduced from 3.5% to 2%. If you are unfamiliar with the no down payment 100% financing USDA Guaranteed home Loan, please give me a call. Why is the USDA now charging monthly mortgage insurance? Due to some upcoming nationwide changes to make mortgage lenders more accountable to the loans they approve, USDA implemented this in order to prevent the American tax payer from subsidizing the (4 comments)

lynnwood: USDA is adding mortgage insurance
- 06/02/11 06:51 PM
USDA Loans Will Have Monthly Mortgage Insurance as of October 1, 2011What Does This Mean To You? USDA Rural Development and its loan program were designed to help improve the economy and quality of life throughout rural America. The program continues to remain a wonderful option for qualifying homebuyers, with zero down payment required.But a change is coming!Beginning October 1, for the first time in the history of USDA, the Single Housing Guaranteed Loan Program will have an annual fee. This fee will be calculated based on the guaranteed loan amount and based on the average annual scheduled unpaid principal (0 comments)

lynnwood: Super Conforming loan limits to expire Sept 30.
- 05/27/11 06:31 PM
Over the last few years, the government has funded mortgages as large as $729,750 in high-cost areas throughout the country. Those loan limits were temporarily increased because the economy was struggling and many lenders would have refused to make those loans without the government covering the risk of default. But now those loan limits are due to expire in just a few short months, on September 30, 2011. So, why is this a big deal? Mortgage rates are typically much lower when they are supplied through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When these loans are no longer allowed under Fannie Mae (0 comments)

lynnwood: HUD does it again
- 02/16/11 03:22 PM
Can you believe it? HUD announced today that starting April 18th the mortgage insurance on FHA loans will go from .9 to 1.15% for it's monthly mortgage insurance. They recently bumped it up from .55 to .9 monthly and now they are raising it again. This will make the monthly payments for this great first time homebuyer program go up and less will quallify. This makes no sense at all! If they want to do something that actually helps the market why not have a program that allows people who make their payments on time and have income to support those (0 comments)

lynnwood: What Was Your Name Again? Tips for Improving Memory
- 08/11/10 01:38 PM
Have you ever been introduced to someone and, about two seconds after shaking his hand, forgotten his name? Don't worry. This is not evidence that you're losing your mind or that you're on the fast track to senility. Turns out, this is actually an extremely common occurrence for many busy people today... including me! The good news is that, not only is there plenty of research on the subject to help us cope with this problem, there are also a number of simple, practical actions we can take to improve our memory now and long into the future. No Pain, No (4 comments)

lynnwood: Boost your Savings Account……Without even trying
- 08/10/10 12:40 PM
Annual income aside, there's not a person among us who wouldn't welcome the idea of having more money in their savings account. This is the money we use on everything from yearly vacations to family presents. Come holiday time, wouldn't it be nice to have an extra thousand or so dollars at your disposal? Here are a few ideas that can help to make that possible. The best part is you'll hardly feel it!Bring Your Lunch to Work - The average person spends $6 when they buy their lunch yet only $2 when they pack it themselves. That's a potential savings (0 comments)

lynnwood: FHA Gives 90 Day Seasoning a Waiver
- 01/19/10 04:18 PM
In the past a borrower could not buy a house that the current owner had owned for less than 90 days. The new borrower could not even make the offer until the owner had owned the property for 90 callendar days. On January 15, 2010 FHa released a proposal to waive the 90 day rule for a period of one year starting February 1, 2010. There are some minor things to keep in mind though. All transactions must be "arms-length". No idetity of interest can exist between the buyer and seller. The seller can not profit more than 20% from the (1 comments)

lynnwood: NEW GFE effective Jan 1
- 12/23/09 06:03 PM
Have you looked at the new Good Faith Estimate yet? Well I would encourage you to. Starting January 1st lenders are required to use a new GFE. It is a three page document now, not just one. It does spell out quite well what the closing costs are and what they are for. There will be some confusion with this document though. To start with there is nowhere to see what the total monthly payment is. It does show principle and interest, but not the total payment with the MI, Taxes or Insurance. It also does not show how much money (1 comments)

lynnwood: Debt to income getting stronger
- 12/08/09 12:40 PM
Effictive Saturday, December 12th the underwriting engine that is used to approve most loans is reducing its ratios to 45% with some flexibillity to 50%. In the past we could run DO and get approvals to 54% normally and in the low 60's with a stong buyer. What this means is the buyers debt to income ratio is lower. The figure means the amount of total debt ( new house payment and all consumer debt) can only be 45% of the gross salary of the buyer. So talk to your lenders if you have buyers shopping. If you run DO prior (2 comments)

lynnwood: FHA and VA refinance
- 11/23/09 02:07 PM
If you know of anyone in your data base that has a FHA or VA loan, now is the time to make a call to them. If their interest rate is at or above 6% then they should consider a refinance. With FHA and VA there is a "Streamline Refi" available. What this means for the custormer is that even if the home value has gone down there is no need for an appraisal and they could lower their monthly payments. I have saved many of my clients hundreds of dollars per month with these loans. Interest rates are close to historic (0 comments)

lynnwood: Fed Funds
- 11/04/09 01:40 PM
The fed funds were left unchanged today. On that news the mortgage bond have seen some pressure and are off aobut 19bp's. This should move rates up slightly in the afternoon and tomorrow morning. Applications rose in the last week by 8.2% though. The next big event will be the auctions on the 9th of $40B 3 yr bonds, $25B 10 yr bonds and $16B of 30 yr bonds.

Jerry Wright Mortgage Advisor(0 comments)

lynnwood: $8000 tax credit
- 10/27/09 02:35 PM
Well the Senate has the bill now to vote to extend the tax credit. Lets all hope they do. If they fail to extend this I believe the housing market will come to a crawl. This would be for two reasons. First the consumer confidence would be shot. Consumers would see the government bailing out all the big banks and pulling back from the consumers who need most of the help. Secondly I think that the first time home buyers would stop buying anticipating a renewal of the bill early next year after the winter break. The best that could happen (1 comments)

lynnwood: Over regulating again
- 08/03/09 02:11 PM
Now the government has implemented the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA). Basically if the APR changes for the better or worse by .125% then new disclosures would need to be signed by the borrowers and the loan could not close for up to 6 days after signing it. I can see if the APR goes up then having them sign and wait the required days. But if the rates go down and I get my clients a better interest rate? The APR would go down and the borrowers would benefit from that. Why should the clients be punished and have to wait the additionals (1 comments)

lynnwood: Credit Repair should not cost any money
- 03/02/09 12:30 PM
In these times there are going to be companies that will charge money to fix a persons credit. That is a waste of time and most people don't realize it. There are ways that a person can fix their own credit for free. It just takes time a effort. If a person takes the time and puts in the energy they can save money and make sure that the job is getting done properly. With all of the changes in lending guidelines it is very important to have a decent credit score. There are websites out there where a person can (0 comments)

lynnwood: Tougher lending is not always a bad thing
- 10/29/08 09:18 AM
Some of the program changes are not all bad for us. Back in about 2002 and before when you got a home loan you had to provide 2 years of w-2's, a month of pay stubs, bank statements, show job stability and have decent credit. Then you sat down with a mortgage person and decided how much you were going to put down and what type of program was best for you. Then the change in the industry started to happen. The stated income/stated asset, no-doc and 0-down loans started to show up. Not long after that first time home buyers (0 comments)

lynnwood: Save the Down Payment Assistance Programs
- 08/26/08 09:57 PM
Congress has this bill on the floor when they return from the Summer Break. We all need to voice our opinion to keep the Down Payment Assistance programs alive. Congress introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 6694 that would reauthorize and reform charitable downpayment assistance. This bill would remedy a harmful provision in the new housing law which limits homeownership opportunities for low and middle-income Americans. The legislation, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Al Green (D-TX), Gary Miller (R-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Christopher Shays (R-CT) reauthorizes and reforms charitable downpayment assistance funded in part by sellers, which has helped over one million families (0 comments)

lynnwood: Down Payment Assistance, know it for 2008
- 06/04/08 12:23 PM
With all the tightening in the lending industry lately. FHA and VA loans are definately on the upswing. Did you know that you can get the 3% down for FHA and the closing costs for both paid by the seller. If it is your seller than you should look into all the DPA programs. The Down Payment Assistance programs make the seller concessions tax deductible. Why would your seller just give the money to the borrower and not take advantage of the tax deduction? If you don't know about these programs then to be the best source of information to your (2 comments)

lynnwood: 100% financing is going away
- 03/20/08 06:55 PM
The only true 100% financing left will be VA. FHA is still at 3% down payment. This program allows 6% to come from other parties. So the 3% down payment and the closing costs can be covered through seller concessions. All other first time homebuyer programs will be with a 3% down payment. Most of these products have a maximum of 3% that can come from the seller to cover down payment and/or closing costs. Product Updates:· Effective 3/31/08 the Flex 100, My Community Mortgage 100%, and Home Possible 100% are being discontinued. The MI companies will no longer insure these (4 comments)

Disclaimer: Trulia, Inc. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. Trulia, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.